The Right Editor. Right Away.

EFA members

are editors, writers, indexers, proofreaders, researchers, desktop publishers, translators, and others who offer a broad range of skills and specialties.

Freelancers here are part of the largest and oldest national professional organization of editorial freelancers. As a publisher or author, you want qualified professionals to work on your manuscript or project. There’s no better place to find the right editor, right away!

As a freelancer, you owe it to yourself to be a part of this organization, which is dedicated to supporting its membership and your freelance career.

EFA provides

resources for both freelancers and clients, including a chart of common rates.

The online EFA member directory offers clients free and instant access to the diverse assortment of highly skilled publishing professionals who make up EFA membership. The free EFA job listing service offers clients another way to find the right freelancer for the job. EFA members receive a customizable listing in the directory and access to the wide variety of project opportunities submitted by clients, along with many other membership benefits.

History

A pioneer in organizing freelancers into a network for mutual support and advancement, the EFA is now recognized throughout the publishing industry as the source for professional editorial assistance. And as editorial freelancing—indeed, freelancing in many fields of endeavor—becomes more prevalent, the association can look forward to an even brighter future.

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The EFA traces its origins to 1970 when editors at Grove Press went on strike in an effort to make the publishing industry more responsive to their needs. Two Grove editors who found themselves freelancing again—Mary Heathcote and Cicely Nichols—met with several others to discuss the situation, and predicaments, of freelancers. As the EFA steadily grew during the ’70s, a more formal structure was needed. Organizing that structure took two years. A Structure Committee wrote bylaws and created the Board of Governors, which was to be headed by two co-executives. It also created the positions of secretary and treasurer. In 1979, the EFA opened its first office, a small space in a funky building on East 20th Street in Manhattan. In 1985, the EFA hired an office manager. In 1997, regional chapter development was initiated to enrich the EFA experience for the increasing number of members outside the New York headquarters area. The Job List began as a phone-in service; the Member Directory began as a few typed pages, then a small bound book. Both moved online and expanded as the publishing world became established on the internet and increasingly in locations far from New York City. All of the innovations, leadership, and plain hard work that have kept the EFA growing have come from volunteers.

About the EFA

The EFA is a national not-for-profit —501(c)6— organization, headquartered in New York City, run almost entirely by member volunteers, all of whom are also freelancers. The Board of Governors oversees the EFA’s operations and keeps the membership informed of developments within the association. The office administrator, the EFA’s only paid employee, answers the phones and mail, keeps track of supplies, coordinates meeting schedules, and offers all member support as needed. Its members, experienced in a wide range of professional skills, live and work all across the United States and in other countries.

Board of Governors

The EFA is managed by its Board of Governors, whose members are chosen from among the membership either through election or appointment. Annual elections are held each April, and the candidates’ statements for an upcoming election are published on the website.

The Board consists of the four officers, members at large, and committee representatives. The officers are: two co-executives, a secretary, and a treasurer. Members at large are elected from among the general membership. Their function is to represent the interests of a broad base of members, to assist other governors and committees with EFA business, and to promote the EFA to members and potential members and to the publishing industry. There will be no fewer than three member at large slots on the board at any time. Committee representatives serve by appointment and are added or removed according to the needs of the organization.